Charm
by Apple Fairy
Summary: We weren't friends, and we weren't lovers. We were both, yet neither. And when Guy tried to decide for us to be lovers, I told him no. It was all just a game of charm, anyway. GuyNat, Natalia's POV. Might continue. :/


Hajimemashite and Konnichiwa, dearest reader-san! Apple Fairy here! .

Well, here's my first GuyNat fic. Please read with honesty and not too harshly. Enjoy! :3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tales of the Abyss.

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_Charm_

_Story by Apple Fairy_

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_I suppose we were just young._

_Young and foolish, but that was okay. It was okay to be young and foolish._

_But just because something appears that way doesn't mean it's true._

_In other words, what I'm trying to say is, we were never in love._

* * *

Our relationship was strange. I wasn't sure at times what we were, yet at others I was assured that we were what we were most stubbornly. It's hard to say how I felt about Guy. Our relationship was strange. He was strange, too.

It was all very strange. Nothing was normal. Nothing you could be certain of. There was no ground to walk on, only air to fall in, no ground to fall on either. We just fell and fell and fell, knowing nothing was concrete, but being completely fine with it.

It was like we were walking on this tightrope. We had to be extra-careful not to fall to one side, but we still tilted at times.

One side being friendship, another being love.

It was very easy to tilt on that thin rope. After all, having two people on the same rope made it harder to balance. And adding in others to it just caused it to be more tipsy and faulty, until finally, you grabbed onto the one who caused it, forcing them to fall in with you to whatever side you fell into.

I think I did that with Asch. I can't really be certain right now.

Anyway, that was the sort of relationship Guy and I had. We both balanced on that tightrope, sometimes holding the other steady, reminding one that we were friends. Only friends.

Sometimes we even hinted we could be more than friends if the other wanted.

Yet, we were either too shy or scared, and we would politely decline, and continue falling in our nothing-is-concrete relationship. We were fine, just fine. I think, in a way, we both knew we had the potential to fall in love. We could've been a couple if we wanted. Yet, we would only politely decline in our own little ways. How Guy would remind me of his phobia, and I clinging onto my engagement to Luke (or Asch, if you wanted to be technical).

But that didn't mean we unintentionally charmed the other. We flirted unknowingly, and smiled whenever our gazes met. We supported the other, letting them know we were there to fall back on if they ever found themselves with no place to put their feet.

For instance, when I was a child, sad over Luke's kidnapping, patiently waiting for him to be rescued, Guy had cheered me up.

"He'll come back, your highness. He'll be safe. Don't cry. You look more beautiful when you smile."

_I could be falling for him. _I gulped, after realizing why my heartbeat had quickened so much after his words.

I furrowed my brow afterwards. _I'm not._

Guy was a natural-born charmer. There was no way around it. It just _came_ to him. I shrugged off his unintentional flirts as that. Just that. Perhaps he did that too. Made excuses when we very well knew we had the possibility to fall in love.

But that was alright. We knew it, but we chose not to. Just friends. Only friends.

However, it was hard. He had the ability to captivate women without even trying to. There were times where he slipped up, and did it to me. I was a woman, too. I had no sort of resistance to his words. I fell for them, too, like some sort of breathless, swept up, romance novel heroine.

"It suits you, princess. You have a sort of charm for it." He had smiled so lazily. He had been commenting on that wretched bathing suit Emperor Peony had gotten me. I shrugged off his compliment as nothing, giving a small 'thank you', but my heart was pounding. Had he really thought that? Was he complimenting my figure? Or the bathing suit?

I wanted him to tell me more. To compliment me more. To call me beautiful and gorgeous and whatever else he could think of. I was tipping dangerously close to the love side, my passion wanting to give in.

Yet, Guy grabbed my arm and jerked me right back onto the tightrope with him.

"I was just kidding, your highness." He grinned.

_I could be falling for you. But I'm not. _I told him, or myself; I'm not entirely sure.

We could've only stayed friends. Yet, our unintentional flirting allowed none of that, making us tilt on that rope.

And when I say 'our' I mean 'our'. I'm guilty as well. I flirted with him, too; however subtly, like he had.

For example, when we had been separated in the Absorption Gate, and Guy had reassured me the others would be alright. He seemed handsome then. Confident.

"You're a good person, Guy."

I believe in etiquette and politeness before anything else. I was not about to tell him he was 'attractive' or 'dashing'. No. I would tell him politely and delicately that he was a 'good person' in my eyes. I considered it flirting, and so did he, what with how his cheeks turned slightly pink. He smiled shyly.

"Really? A lot of people tell me that. Thank you."

_You could be falling for me. But you're not._ I explained to him wordlessly as he examined me afterwards, soon suggesting we should continue on.

We were both to blame for our strange, 'nothing-is-concrete' relationship. We were close enough to be friends, but too close to be more. We played with it however, the idea we could fall in love. We urged one on to give in, then soon warning them against it. We both played this game, and it wasn't annoying, yet satisfying. I think, in a way, it fed our hunger to give in, at the same time keeping it on a strict diet, making sure our hunger wasn't over or underfed.

And then came Asch. Our game began to decrease, and soon I wasn't hungering for Guy's attention and charming words anymore, but for Asch's safety and happiness, instead. I think Guy had seen this as well, and being the gentleman he was, silently backed away from our dangerous game, instead treating me as only a friend, careful to watch his words so he would no longer flirt with me.

I appreciated that. I was grateful that Guy had decided to be mature about it. He had always been mature and kind and I knew he wouldn't push anything too far.

Yet, Asch died. Luke disappeared. Life went on, and a year later the game was back on.

It started out faintly, having to know it was there to see it. Then it grew, and then we began to openly flirt. We still kept our rules of 'no falling in love', and 'staying friends only', but we continued our game nonetheless.

Then, it wasn't a silent secret between us, but a vocal acknowledgment.

"You know…" Guy whispered softly, gazing at me. "…I could be falling for you."

I looked away from the setting sun and the sea from Grand Chokmah's port, where we stood. The wind blew by us and I could smell salt in the air as I turned my gaze to him. His face was truthful, and serious. Perhaps Guy didn't want to play this game anymore. Perhaps he wanted to call it quits, to forfeit, so he could finally admit his feelings.

I knew what I had to do in that moment. This was the final decision. Guy didn't want me to pull him back on the tightrope, but suggested we both fall in together instead of tilting our whole lives. He was holding his hand out, ready to take mine, so we could both fall in together.

However, I only shook my head and smiled.

"No," I told him, "You're not."

I was fine with our 'nothing-is-concrete' relationship. I wanted to tilt. Besides, we weren't really in love.

It was all just a game of charm.

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That's the end of it! I hope you enjoyed! :3

Ah, the ending? Was Nat only toying with Guy's feelings? Is Nat just afraid to be in a relationship with her crush/friend? Who knows. I leave the interpretation to you. x3

Also, sorry if it's repetitive. D:

Anyway, thank you once again for reading! Thank you, and I hope you have a nice day! Ciao!

-Apple Fairy


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